Kristen Lappas on Directing Prime's 'Giannis: The Marvelous Journey'

NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has decided it’s time to bring his story to the small screen. The Milwaukee Bucks' power forward has firmly cemented himself as one of the NBA’s most dominant performers with a plethora of accomplishments—including being a two-time league MVP and leading the Bucks to a championship in 2021. Giannis: The Marvelous Journey, a Prime Video exclusive premiering February 19, is an intimate portrait of a global superstar navigating life as a young family man. The documentary was directed by Kristen Lappas—a film director and producer with Words + Pictures who has twice won Emmys for her short sports documentaries (Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible and A Mountain to Climb).

Beginning her career with ESPN, Lappas produced eight installments of the Peabody Award-winning series 30 for 30, most recently directing the multi-part documentary, Dream On, which was nominated for an IDA award, and netted Lappas “Best Non-Fiction Show Director" category at the Women's Image Awards for the series. Ahead of this weekend's release of The Marvelous Journey on Prime Video, we chatted with Lappas to hear a bit about working with the Bucks All-Star and the process of putting this movie together.

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“I was working for ESPN around 2019 or so on a series called SneakerCenter, which, of course, was about sneaker culture,” Lappas tells ONE37pm as she reflects on her first interaction with Giannis’ team. “Giannis was releasing his first signature shoe with Nike in Athens, and ESPN sent me over to cover the release.”

While in Greece, Lappas connected with Giannis’ agent, Alex Saratsis, and the two would continue to keep in touch over the years. In May of 2022, Lappas began working for Words + Pictures, and as fate would have it, the company had begun producing and developing a very special project—Giannis: The Marvelous Journey.

The decision to accept working on the film was one Lappas called “a no-brainer.” As it turns out she and Giannis actually have a few things in common. “Giannis and I both have the Greek connection, and I grew up in a basketball household with a basketball coach," she says; her father is long-time college basketball coach and announcer Steve Lappas. One more commonality: Lappas did a good percentage of the film’s editing before going on maternity leave, and around that same time, Giannis’ fiancée Mariah Riddlesprigger was pregnant as well. That means they both welcomed new life into the world around the same time. “I only take on projects I’m connected to—you do your best work when you care,” Lappas says.

You can’t tell Giannis’ story without Greece, so in the summer of 2022, Lappas traveled to the beautiful city of Athens three times to film and interview his family. “He and his family go to Greece every offseason—he even has a home there,” Lappas explains.

Connections from a Nike release or chatting at the release of Rise, a scripted Disney film about Giannis' life, notwithstanding, getting a private person to open up is no easy task. How did Lappas do it? “The initial connection was already established [so] when we met again to discuss this project, he asked me why we should do this and that he wanted me to feel invested in it," she recalls. "He appreciated my honesty, and little by little, over time, he began feeling more comfortable opening up. After spending time with him, one thing was most surprising to me—he only really cares deeply about his family.”

Lappas continues: “Giannis doesn’t really have a lot of friends, and his inner circle is tight. I’ve never seen somebody that dedicated to helping his family, and while we were in Athens, it was special to see the entire family together."

Time, along with the trust and connection Lappas and Giannis developed, resulted in the future hall-of-famer opening up even more. “For me it was also his willingness to talk about his father’s passing. That was something he hadn’t felt comfortable opening up about," Lappas says.

"Giannis is wiser than any 28 year old [now 29] I’ve met in the way he thinks about life. I tried to be very careful and direct with what I asked of him—especially during the season," Lappas notes.

The film was a small production that gradually shot over time, and she says the two really hit a good stride in April, 2023 when they did a three-hour sit down in Milwaukee. “He really let his guard down, and just listening to him speak shows how humble and profound he is," she explains.

Also featured in the documentary are broadcasters Malika Andrews and Ernie Johnson, current and former Bucks Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, The Athletic's Bucks' beat writer Eric Nehm and more. With Giannis having had an up and down relationship with the media at times, I ask Lappas about the decision to include that very same media in this intimate documentary.

“Everybody featured are people whom Giannis has authentic relationships with. He had no qualms with anybody—Giannis is a really smart guy. He knows audiences are very discerning right now, and he wanted to have people that would speak to his flaws as well,” she says. "This was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, and I learned so much. The biggest thing about this documentary is that it’s not like it's talking about Jordan or Shaq twenty years after retirement. Giannis is still figuring this out, and he’s still a young adult. He says he wants to play until he’s 38, so right now he’s at the middle point of his career, in his eyes.”

But the work was all worth it on the evening that Lappas showed the final edit to Giannis and his family. “It was nerve-racking and one of the most rewarding moments of my career,” she recalls. “As a courtesy, I flew to Milwaukee to show Giannis and his family the final film. We sat in his living room, he offered us dinner, and then we watched with his fiancée, his mom, his brothers and his three-week old daughter. That was the most nerve-racking moment for me. I was so nervous I was shaking, and the reaction, the tears, and the laughter—I will never forget that moment. They told me I nailed it, and that’s the greatest compliment." 

You can stream Giannis: The Marvelous Journey via Prime Video beginning on February 19.

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